The new cultivar of Olea europaea was created by artificial pollination during the course of a breeding program wherein two parents were crossed which previously had been studied in the hope that they would contribute the desired characteristics. Such breeding program was a cooperative program conducted by the University of Córdoba and the Andalusian Agriculture Research and Training Institute (IFAPA) at Córdoba, Spain.
The parental cultivars were of different geographical origin with each having high productivity and oil content. The female parent (i.e., the seed parent) was the ‘Picual’ cultivar (non-patented in the United States) from Andalusia in southern Spain. The male parent (i.e. the pollen parent) was the ‘Arbequina’ cultivar (non-patented in the United States) from Catalonia in northeastern Spain.
The parentage of the new cultivar can be summarized as follows:‘Picual’×‘Arbequina’.
The original seedling of the cross carried out in 1991 initially was designated UC-I 8-7 in breeding records. This seedling was planted in the field during 1994 at the experimental farm of IFAPA Centro Alameda del Obispo of Córdoba, Spain. The first olive crop was produced during 1996 and the resulting plant was evaluated during the succeeding harvest seasons.
It was found that the new olive cultivar of the present invention possesses the following combination of characteristics:                (a) displays low vigor and a compact and weeping growth habit that is adapted for growing in high density orchards,        (b) displays an ability to form an olive crop at an early age, and        (c) efficiently forms attractive olives having a high oil content.        
The new cultivar can be distinguished from its parental cultivars and all other olive cultivars known to the orginiators.
The new cultivar is particularly well suited for growing as an alternative cultivar in high density hedgerow orchards where the male parent ‘Arbequina’ cultivar has been utilized as a standard cultivar in the past. The new cultivar in view of its reduced vigor is believed to be a superior candidate for ease of management in a high density hedgerow orchard system. Hereafter the characteristics of the new cultivar are compared in detail with those of the ‘Arbequina’ cultivar.
The new cultivar has been found to undergo asexual propagation beginning in February 2000 at Córdoba, Spain, by the use of semi-hardwood stem cuttings. Propagated trees of the new cultivar were planted for further evaluation at the experimental farm of IFAPA Centro Alameda del Obispo of Córdoba, Spain, together with fourteen other previously known genotypes which were used as controls. A randomized block design with sixteen replications and one tree per elementary plot was utilized. The evaluation of this trial confirmed prior results that were observed during the seedling stage. Accordingly, the new cultivar has been found to undergo asexual propagation in a true to type manner.
The new cultivar has been named ‘Chiquitita’.